Race reports
Day IV: Sunday 11 May
Race reports
Women’s Pair
The Women's Pair of Sarah Cook and Kim Crow made amends for the disappointment of missing out on qualifying for the A Final by winning the B Final by a boat length.
They executed a better start off the line and sat just behind the French pair after the first 500m of the race. In slightly clamer, but still choppy conditions, Cook and Crow passed the French in the third quarter of the race before finishing with strength to complete the course in a time of 7:48.08. France finished second, while Denmark claimed third place.
Men’s Double Scull
David Crawshay and Scott Brennan produced a great performance in the final of the Men's Double Scull to win the bronze medal and give Australia a great start on Sunday.
They were slightly slow off the line at sat in fourth place after the first 500m before pushing in the next portion of the race to move into third ahead of the Croatian combination.
Great Britain and Germany had cleared out from the rest of the field leaving Crawshay and Brennan the task of fighting for the bronze medal. They kept their form over the last part of the race to finish a boat length clear of Croatia.
Women’s Quad Scull
The Women’s Quad Scull claimed 5th place in the very competitive A Final and have something to build upon for the next World Cup in Lucerne.
After only coming together as a group three weeks ago Amber Bradley, Zoe Uphill, Kerry Hore and Amy Ives did not have the pace to compete with the three time World Champions from Great Britain. Germany came second, while China was third. Australia crossed the line in a time of 7:10.76.
Men’s Quad Scull
Dan Noonan, James McRae, Peter Hardcastle and Brendan Long finished 5th in the final of the Men’s Quad Scull behind the World Champion crew from Poland.
The crew got off to a reasonable start but were unable to keep up with the pace that Poland set in the first half of the race. Poland cleared out from the field and despite the best efforts of Germany and France to pull them back it was to no avail.
Australia had a strong second 1000m and crossed the line in a time of 6:25.09 to finish ahead of a former World Championship medallist crew from Italy.
Women’s Eight
The Women’s Eight won the first Australian gold medal of 2008 after a dominant performance in their final.
They got off to a slightly slower start than anticipated after catching some rough water in the first 350 metres of the race but started making a move on the leaders China just before the halfway point in the race.
China led by just under a second at the 1000m mark before Australia overtook them with about 800m to go and powered to the line to win in a time of 6:36.29 and by a clear two boat lengths from China and Romania.
The speed of the boat over the final quarter of the race will please the Australian coaches and is a step in the right direction ahead of Beijing.
Men’s Eight
The Australian Men’s Eight replicated the performance of the Women’s Eight to win the gold medal ahead of Great Britain and China.
The Australians got off to a great start and led from start to finish in the race to win in a time of 6:05.38 by just under a boat length.
After 500m of the race they had built a lead close to a full boat length which allowed them to look back on the field for the rest of the race.
Just after the 1000m mark China and Great Britain began to make a move on the Australian’s who had struck some rough water, but showing composure, the crew regrouped to claim the morale boosting victory.
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Day III: Saturday 10 May
Race reports
Women’s Pair
Sarah Cook and Kim Crow entered the semi final of the Women’s Pair in Lane 4 and one of the favoured crews to progress to the A Final on Sunday. They struggled off the start however and after the first 500m found themselves in 5th place.
In the very testing conditions they faced an uphill battle to chase down the two United States crews and the crew from the Netherlands. After 1000m they had slowly begun to reel in USA 2 and they managed to chase them down just before the 1500m mark.
With only three crews progressing to the A Final on Sunday from each of the semi finals the last 500m proved to be a shoot out between Cook and Crow and the USA 2 crew for third place. In what was an extremely close finish Australia was pipped by just under a second to miss out on qualifying for the main final on Sunday. USA 1 won the race with the Netherlands claiming second place.
Men’s Double Scull
David Crawshay and Scott Brennan successfully qualified for the A Final on Sunday after a conservative row saw them comfortably progress. They finished third in the semi final but a comfortable 15 seconds clear of the fourth placed Greek crew.
Crawshay and Brennan were never in danger after they got off to a solid start to be placed second after the first 500m of the race. They held this position behind the Great British crew for the majority of the race before eventually being overtaken by Belarus in the last stages of the race. They completed the race in a time of 7:09.37.
Women’s Quad Scull
The Australian crew of Amber Bradley, Zoe Uphill, Kerry Hore and Amy Ives required a top four finish in the repechage of the Women’s Quad Scull to secure a place in the final.
Their main threats for a place in the final were going to come in the form of two Chinese crews, the Ukraine and Germany. After the first half of the race Australia was back in fourth place, but pushed over the final quarter of the race to ensure representation in the final on Sunday.
China came first and second in the race to sound a warning about their depth in the discipline, while Australia came third in a time of 7:16.94, a boat clear of Ukraine.
Men’s Quad Scull
Dan Noonan, James McRae, Peter Hardcastle and Brendan Long entered the semi final coming off the back of a win in the repechage on Friday. With only three crews progressing to the final, the crew knew that another strong performance was necessary.
Germany was favourites going into the race, while Australia would battle it out with Slovenia and Belarus for the final two places in the final.
After the first half of the race Germany had cleared from the field along with Slovenia, leaving Australia battling for the last place in the final with Belarus.
Led superbly by Dan Noonan from the stroke seat, they held their form exceptionally well over the last 500m to cross the line in a time of 6:39.07 and claim third place close to two boat lengths clear of the fatiguing crew from Belarus.
Men’s Eight
The Men’s Eight entered the repechages full of confidence after a strong showing in the heats on Friday.
A top two finish in their race was required to reach the final and they left nothing to chance as they constructed an excellent race to stun their opposition and claim victory by over six seconds.
Through 500m Australia sat in second place behind the Netherlands, but they lifted the intensity in the middle 1000m of the race to open up a two boat length lead over both France and the Netherlands.
Australia crossed the finish line in a time of 6:09.31 to finish just under two boat lengths clear of France, who claimed the remaining spot in the final.
The Men’s Eight can now look forward to the final race of the regatta and will look to push the Chinese and Great British crews in the final.
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Day II: Friday 9 May
Race reports
The Women’s Eight were the standout performers on the second day of World Cup 1 in Munich, Germany.
Once again the competitors were faced with challenging cross wind conditions and all the Australian crews performed well again in the first international event of the year.
The Men’s Pair of the Karsten Forsterling and Terrence Alfred were forced to withdraw before racing commenced due to an illness to Alfred, as well as an illness to James Chapman in the Eight. This meant that Forsterling was called in as the reserve.
Women’s Quad Scull
The Women’s Quad Scull had their first race on Friday in a very difficult heat and claimed third position.
With four of the World Championship finalists from 2007 competing at the event, it will provide the crew with a good test of where they are at ahead of the Olympic Games/
Kerry Hore (TAS), Zoe Uphill (NSW), Amy Ives (NSW) and Amber Bradley (WA) came out of the start well but sat in third position after each 500m interval and were never quite able to reel in the German and Chinese crews.
They finished third behind Germany and China in a time of 7:08.54 and will now need to finish in the top 4 of their repechage tomorrow to progress to the final on Sunday.
Men’s Quad Scull
The Men’s Quad Scull crew of Dan Noonan (NSW), James McRae (SA), Peter Hardcastle (NSW) and Brendan Long (TAS) won their repechage in convincing fashion to secure a place in the semi finals on Saturday.
In an assured performance they led for the majority of the race to win in a time of 6:24.55 ahead of the Czech Republic and Romania.
After a slightly below par performance on Thursday the crew was eager to impress and found the perfect start to lead over the first 500m of the race.
Led well by Noonan in the stroke seat, the Australians increased their margin fractionally throughout the race to eventually win by just under two seconds.
They will race in the semi finals on Saturday and will require a top three finish to progress to the A Final on Sunday.
Women’s Eight
With only one crew qualifying for the final from each of the two heats, the Australian crew led from start to finish in the head wind conditions, announcing their attentions for the coming year.
They came out of the blocks very quickly and led through the first 500m by two seconds over the Netherlands.
In the middle 1000m of the race they maintained their advantage before increasing their stoke rate to 36 over the last 500m of the race.
Stroked by Sarah Heard (VIC), the girls held on the lead over the closing stages of the race to win in a time of 6:38.36 and by three quarters of a boat length over the Netherlands.
Their main challenge in the final will come from the Chinese crew that won the second heat, as well as the reigning Olympic Champions, Romania. With the World Champion United States crew not competing in Munich it has allowed the other crews to step forward an issue a challenge.
Men’s Eight
The Australian Men’s Eight finished in second place behind Great Britain in their heat and will now be required to race in the repechages on Saturday.
They were hampered by the late withdrawal of James Chapman (NSW), who was forced to withdraw due to illness. He was replaced by Karsten Forsterling (VIC) who came into the 3 seat and performed well on the minimal preparation he had with the crew.
Great Britain and Australia traded blows over the first 1500 metres, with both crews sharing the lead. Great Britain led over the first 500m before the Australian’s briefly hit the lead at the halfway mark by less than a canvas.
Great Britain regained the lead shortly afterwards and finished stronger over the last 500 metres to win by two seconds in a time of 6:06.04.
It was a strong performance by the Eight and they will take a lot of confidence into the repechages on Saturday.
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Q&A
Rowing Australia had the chance to catch up with four members of the Australian Eight after last night’s race. Here is what they had to say.
RA — It was a bit of a setback before the race losing James Chapman but Karsten seemed to come in and do a good job?
Stephan Stewart — Yes Karsten did a great job, since we have been here the change in diet and weather has knocked a few of us around. It might sound bad but this experience of sickness will make the crew stronger and more resilient as this could happen in China.
Sam Loch — It was certainly a setback losing Chappo on the eve of our first race of this campaign, but luckily Karst has spent plenty of time in the boat recently and was more than capable of slotting in. Fortunately both of our reserves are very good oarsmen, very much included in our daily operation and more than willing to step in when needed. Chappo, I know, was very disappointed to miss the 1st race, but will certainly be back soon.
RA — How did you feel the boat was moving in the first race of the season?
Tom Laurich — We had a few dirty ones but seemed to get off to a good start all things considered. I thought as a crew we were moving really well and keeping a consistent pace which was one of the aims for today.
Sam Conrad — It was a good first race. We learnt a lot straight off the bat but we can improve a lot from that tomorrow.
RA — The repechage is tomorrow. You must be feeling pretty confident of getting to the final after today's performance from Lane 1?
Stephan Stewart — The conditions are quite challenging but as a group it is great for us to practice and put our rowing to the test.
Tom Laurich — We should have now earned one of the middle lanes for tomorrow and I'm confident we can build on today's effort.
Sam Loch — Tomorrow’s race is going to be fun. I’m sure that at this stage many crews will be trying many weird and wonderful tactics. We are looking forward to it as another opportunity to test ourselves.
Sam Conrad — Yes we are very confident. We feel we can make a big step up tomorrow and hopefully win the rep.
Rowing Australia caught up with Peter Hardcastle after the Men’s Quad Scull won their repechage on Friday.
RA — That seemed like a much better performance today. Did you change anything from the first race on Thursday?
Peter Harcastle — We focused on some technical changes within the crew, which helped us set up a better race from the start.
RA — The crew seems to have come together really well considering it was only finalised three weeks ago?
Peter Hardcastle — All the training before the selection regatta in Quads has been an advantage, and there is a good crew dynamics with experience within the crew.
RA — Where do you see the main challenges coming from tomorrow in the semi finals?
Peter Hardcastle — All crews will be competitive but the German’s have shown some good speed by winning the heat.
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Day I: Thursday 8 May
Cook and Crow go full steam ahead
Australia had a strong start overnight at the first World Cup event in Munich, Germany.
In strong head wind conditions four Australian crews have got their campaigns under way, with the Women’s Pair of Sarah Cook and Kim Crow the standout Australian crew.
Cook and Crow, who finished fourth in the 2007 World Championships, cruised through their heat to finish second in a time of 8:10.19 and easily qualify for the semi final on Saturday.
The German crew was very impressive and pulled out to a comfortable lead at the halfway point of the race. Cook and Crow however were never in any danger of qualifying directly for the semi finals with the top three crews progressing. They rowed very conservatively in the tricky conditions and will now feel more comfortable with a race under their belts.
David Crawshay (VIC) and Scott Brennan (TAS) were also successful in qualifying for the semi finals in the Men’s Double Scull.
Germany once again proved the main opposition for the priority boat in the Men’s sculling group and the two crews exchanged the lead over the course of the race. Germany led after the first 500 metres by just under half a boat length before Brennan and Crawshay struck back to lead over the next 1000 metres. The experienced German crew then lifted their rating over the final 500 metres to lead home the Australian crew (6:44.75) by just over a second.
The reserve Men’s Pair of Karsten Forsterling and Terrence Alfred finished 5th in their heat and will need to move through the repechages on Friday if they want to qualify for the semi finals. Alfred, who is part of his first senior Australian team, will have learnt a great deal from his first race and both he and Forsterling will be an improved crew in the repechages on Friday.
The Men’s Quad Scull of Dan Noonan (NSW), James McRae (SA), Peter Hardcastle (NSW) and Brendan Long (TAS) finished fourth in their heat. They passed through each 500m mark in the same position and were never quite able to challenge the leading three crews from Germany, Italy and Russia.
Meanwhile the Men’s and Women’s Eight, along with the Women’s Quad Scull will race their heats on Friday.
James Chapman, member of the Men’s Eight, says that the group has settled in well as possible since arriving in Europe at the beginning of the week.
“It’s never ideal racing soon after a long haul flight, but we've trained hard this week to tried to adapt as quickly as possible, as well as stay awake during the afternoons”, Chapman said. “We've also kept the intensity up in our training as we haven't targeted this regatta as an event we’re going to freshen up for.”
“We need to keep the long term target, Beijing in mind, rather than short term victory.”
Chapman also said that the atmosphere around the regatta centre was excellent.
“All the countries are excited about the first international race of the season. We can catch up with friends we haven't seen since the World Champs last year, but there are also the anxious emotions looking forward to seeing where your performance is going to rank in your event. There will be a lot of racing and seeing where we stand in the competitive Men's 8 field.”
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